Finger prints, and The Rag Coat FIAR

For Science we started using Play and Find Out About the Human Body by Janice VanCleave Today we did the first 2 projects about why our fingers have ridges. They were fun experiments we tried to pick up dimes with and without tape on our fingers. Then we inspected our finger prints with magnifying glasses to find our patterns, Whorl, arch or loop. We all had arch's in our prints. Lastly my 4 yr old drew green lines for stems then we used ink pads and our fingers to make buds on the stems for flowers. We then discussed what plants need to grow and we added raindrop fingerprints to represent that April Showers will bring May flowers.

We read The Rag Coat, part of our Five in a Row books then made our own paper doll. We traced and measured to make and cut out a coat for our doll then used pieces of fabric and scrapbook paper to make the jacket. We then discussed the history of quilting and that many times groups of woman would get together and quilt in a large group. So we sat together and chatted while we quilted our coat and made up stories about where each piece of cloth came from. We also went to Goodwill this week and looked for spring coats. While we were there we discussed and talked about why buying used is better than new and we imagined all the fun things that the previous owner did with that coat on. We did not find a lightweight jacket but we did get some cute t-shirts and 3 brand new Webkinz with tags and all still attatched for $1.00 each! SCORE! I love thrift stores it's like a treasure hunt!


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Here is our fingerprint picture and our Rag coat doll we made

Fairy Houses

The weather here has been very dreary, gray, rainy and cold. We are so sick of being in the house. So,today after I put the baby down for a nap I got myself and the kids dresssed and I said for art today you are going to build a fairy house using only items that you find outside. My 10 yr old was not so excited but by the time we were finished he asked me when we could do another project like this again (smile)This is the one my 10 yr old made.



My 4 yr old was so excited she placed a stepping stone in front of hers that says wonder she said "I put it there because I wonder if the fairies will come or If I will see them." So cute! Here is her fairy house



For our Homeschool girl scout troop we also made fairy houses. We used a castle bank from a Home Depot kids workshop that we never put togather. What fairy wouldn't love a princess castle house? So we built it then painted it with pink glitter. My dad then used his drill to drill out 1.5 inch hole for the fairy door.

Here is our finished indorr fairy house.

Chile and Mermaids

This week we studied Chile my 4 yr old and I read the book Mariana and the Merchild a folk tale from Chile.This was a great book, full of rich vocabulary and metaphors. We are going to purchase a copy from amazon since we loved our libraries copy.

We then make a pocket out of a manila envelope painted it with watercolors and glued sequins of the sandy bottom (her idea for sunken treasures). This pocket was made to put her mermaids in that I pre drew and cut out she just glued them together, colored them in and added glitter to make it shimmer.(Shimmer was a new vocab word for her from the book.)This weekend I plan on writing some of the vocab words and definitions on the back of the Mermaids then getting them laminated and using them as book marks.



We will be using this book over the next month to do many more underwater type crafts about the vocab words to enhance her learning the rich vocabulary such as...Indigo,crept,dazzled,aquamarine,crimson, shimmered, and many more

A favorite of our Chile studies was the Chilian Shrimp that I made- so yummy!

My oldest did his basic core studies as well as present the information he learned on Chile at our homeschool group event. He also started researching swamps for his research paper he just began.

Arctic week- FIAR

Today is a lazy Sunday for me I am still in my pj's. I cannot recall the last time I stayed in my pj's all day but at least I match, pink plaid fuzzy pants, pink striped shirt, and fuzzy pink socks! The kids are having movies afternoon right now and watching Legend of the Gaurdians while eating freshley popped popcorn
giving me the opportunity to write in my blog.

So with the 4 yr old we started rowing The Very Last First Time, a book from the Five in A Row lessons. So we are going arctic this week....

On Monday we painted ice fishing holes with oil pastels and watercolors then I gave my daughter an Inuit outfit I bought from Build a Bear a few months back. We then talked about the weather in the Arctic and the clothes they wear, and the types of foods the Inuit eat. Then her bear went Ice fishing.


We are lucky enough to have a great zoo close by that has many polar animals so we attended a Zoo class that I set up today for our Homeschool group on the Arctic. The kids got to feel real polar bear fur and seal fur plus learn lots of fun and interesting facts on Arctic animals.

Building our own igloos out of sugar cubes after reading Immi's Gift were much harder than I expected to make due to the fact that they won't melt and hold together. Our igoos kept falling apart! It was still fun and we got to discuss how a real igloo is put together and how it keep the inuit warm. My daughters decorated hers like Immi did in the story.



Making our own Inuksuk's and some Arctic creatures out of white model magic air dry clay. The small animals were made for an Inuit game that you toss them in the air and whichever lands on it's base you receive a point for. The person scoring 30 points first wins.



My oldest is studying Wolves and reading Julie of the Wolves for his Literature unit this week. He is also doing a research paper on the Black swamp.

In addition to our arctic unit the children also got to see physics in action by watching the tree company cut down 3 huge branches off of our huge 200+ year old Scarlet Oak in our back yard. they thought it was cool how they directed where the linbs fell by using ropes. They also are having fun just counting the rings in the tree limbs. The limbs they took off are bigger than most average size trees. Now my husband and I are brain storming what we can build with all our natural wood. a log cabin for the kids, stools and tables, a fortress, totems, so many ideas. Right now its a fun jungle gym for the kids to climb on.



My 4 year old has been working on her handwriting by writing thank cards to put with all the boxes of Girl Scout cookies she sold.

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The Arctic was a lot of fun, next week we are studying Chile and a few other assorted topics.